Proac Studio 110 with Naim Nait 2 (italic) & Naim CD5i2

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Hi,

Planning to get the 110 to go with my Naim Nait 2 (italic) & Naim CD5i2. I've been made to understand that its quite a reasonable match. Can these speakers be place quite close to the wall (behind)? Tq
 
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I have those speakers and they are placed in a pritty big room. Anyway, I think that they are a very good match for the amp! Detailed, fast... I think that you can put them close to the wall. In my case, they are aprox. 1 m away from the wall because I like how they sound that way. I tried to put them closer and I liked the bass, but I kind got used to the way they sounded 1m away from the wall.

Take a listen first if possible.
 

lordmortlock

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Lovely speaker. quick and detailed whilst still sounding very musical to me. Mine are about a metre away from the wall too and although they are front ported I think you get the best results with some space around them. Lost a bit of soundstage closer up but as Brando says it chunks the bass up... and they ain't the bassiest box you can buy although I might be finding that as I was bought up on a strict diet of floorstanders. About to fill the stands so that should help.
 

Frank Harvey

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Proac do go very well with Naim - the majority of our Proac is bought by Naim customers. You shouldn't have any problems near to a wall, and this will be helped by front porting rather than rear. As always, it's usually worth trying at least one alternative, so as long as you're not running the Nait 5i to it's max, give the ATC SCM11's a try. Their sealed cabinet is ideal for near wall placement, and also match the Naim very well.
 

chebby

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Given that appropriate stands are going to cost at least £220+ and will make the speakers and stands together bigger than floorstanders, what is the advantage of Studio 110's compared to Studio 130's say?

The way I see it...

Suitable stands are expensive, heavy and (usually) ugly, and bring the combined cost* up to or very near the price of the Studio 130's but with less bass.

*Unless you already have the right stands.
 
zztop:

Hi,

Planning to get the 110 to go with my Naim Nait 2 (italic) & Naim CD5i2. I've been made to understand that its quite a reasonable match. Can these speakers be place quite close to the wall (behind)? Tq

Hi zzt

Ime the 110's and Proac speakers in general tend to work better (depending on how lively the room is) when they are away from walls with some fair space around them. Otherwise the bass can thicken, starts to overlap the midrange and also slow things down which then starts to detract from some of the qualities of the Naim.

At this price level you should also consider ATC's SCM11 speakers. We have been using the SCM11's with the Nait 5i-2 and CD5i-2 over the last few days. The ATC's are a closed box design (which will also help them to used close to walls) but (amongst their other qualities) the SCM11's uncoloured, neutral, natural and powerful presentation will allow the Naim components to breathe.

The engineering of the ATC's is superb (the mid/bass unit is massively constructed) and the performance potential is also big so will therefore show up any differences in changes that you may wish to make around them later on. This is one of the reasons why we have sold ATC's with Naim (and quite a few recently).

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft
 

lordmortlock

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chebby:Given that appropriate stands are going to cost at least £220+

Why? Atacamas nexus stand can be bought from ebay for £60. Perfectly suitable.
 

chebby

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I once had a pair of Atacama Nexus 6 stands for an old pair of £150 MA BR1 speakers but I would not think of them being up to the job for supporting a pair of Proac's (or ATC, PMC etc)

I should have thought Partington Dreadnought Broadsides would be a natural partner at this level.
 

Frank Harvey

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I will agree with Chebby to an extent - the Nexus is a good budget stand, but for a quality standmount it lacks the solidity needed to get the best from this type of speaker. Atacama's HMS1 or HMS2 stands would be a much better bet, as well as the Partington's already mentioned.
 
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Anonymous

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FrankHarveyHiFi:Proac do go very well with Naim - the majority of our Proac is bought by Naim customers. You shouldn't have any problems near to a wall, and this will be helped by front porting rather than rear. As always, it's usually worth trying at least one alternative, so as long as you're not running the Nait 5i to it's max, give the ATC SCM11's a try. Their sealed cabinet is ideal for near wall placement, and also match the Naim very well.

Dear David & Rick,

Would my Nait have enough power to drive these brilliant speakers? They say you need at least 100watt to drive them efficiently. Do you think that the ATC is far better than the 110? How do you compare them characteristicly? BTW, I'm currently using the check Soundstyle Z stands. Tq all for your advise
 

Craig M.

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lordmortlock:Sounds like I should audition some better stands!

give it a go, you might be suprised at the difference a change in stands can make. i went from mission stance to hms2, and with my old dyn focus 110's there was a real improvement all round and quite a change in presentation. my hms2's are mass loaded with atabites, which might account for a lot of the difference. i've read a few forum threads that say proac's are better on mass loaded stands.
 

chebby

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zztop:They say you need at least 100watt to drive them efficiently.

??

Just checked the Proac site and it recommends amplifiers of 15 - 150 watts for the Studio 110's

So who is/are 'they'?
 

crusaderlord

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Last month i upgraded my stands from Soundstyle Z2 to Partington Superdreadnaughts.

I wasnt expecting too much change but the difference is actually quite staggering. Bass goes deeper and is more in tact and everything treble included seems a little punchier.

It brought everything together and was a definate upgrade i would recommend.
 
Hi zzt

The Naim Nait has got enough power to feed the ATC SCM11's for most normal sized rooms.

I posted some of the following about a month ago and i hope it will help clear up reservations that you may have.

ATC's passive speaker power recommendation is a minimum of 50w (more on this later - please see below) and so therefore providing an amplifier is of around 50w and sufficiently potent (which the Naim is) then it will be fine. There is unfortunately alot of misguided views about the low efficiency of ATC speakers. In fact the impedence of a speaker is far more important.

ATC drive units are very constant allowing an amplifier to deliver it's full power all the time (prior to cliping). Some very efficient speakers have an impedence that can drop to low levels such as 2 ohms. At this level many amplifirs will struggle to deliver sufficient power or even give no power at all.

Without wishing to contradict myself i have used and customers have bought ATC speakers who have used/still are using the NAD 3020 amplifier with them. This amplifier has a power rating of well below 50w and it too can (whilst not being the last word in power or performance) happily get on with ATC speakers without showin itself up.

The Naim's power rating is moderate however it is also potent and when combined with the stunning engineering of the ATC speakers (particularly those massive drive units) with their low distortion levels you'll have a sound that is uncoloured, neutral, natural and powerful. I have used the Naims and the ATC's for a few days now and even played them at ear splitting levels for long periods and the Naim Nait has not missed a beat.

The 110's are good but the SCM11's are better overall. Their performance potential is also big so the SCM11's will readily show up differences in many components that are also used with them later on.

The Z stands are fine however the stands that i mostly sell the ATC's with are the Soundstyle XS122. They are well built, finished and just about fairly priced at RRP) £105.00 pair.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft
 
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Anonymous

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chebby:

zztop:They say you need at least 100watt to drive them efficiently.

??

Just checked the Proac site and it recommends amplifiers of 15 - 150 watts for the Studio 110's

So who is/are 'they'?

Sorry I was referring to the ATCs recommended by David & Rick. Its easier to drive the 110, thats one of the reason why I decided to go with the Proac. Tq
 

Frank Harvey

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zztop: FrankHarveyHiFi:Proac do go very well with Naim - the majority of our Proac is bought by Naim customers. You shouldn't have any problems near to a wall, and this will be helped by front porting rather than rear. As always, it's usually worth trying at least one alternative, so as long as you're not running the Nait 5i to it's max, give the ATC SCM11's a try. Their sealed cabinet is ideal for near wall placement, and also match the Naim very well. Dear David & Rick,

Would my Nait have enough power to drive these brilliant speakers? They say you need at least 100watt to drive them efficiently. Do you think that the ATC is far better than the 110? How do you compare them characteristicly? BTW, I'm currently using the check Soundstyle Z stands. Tq all for your adviseI'll keep things as simple as possible.

The ATC's are fantastic all rounders, playing pretty much any music you can throw at them. They produce a nicely balanced sound with no specific section (bass/mid/treble) taking over the mix. Positioning isn't much of a problem either due to their sealed cabinets. As previously mentioned. some care is needed when partnering the SCM range with amplification due to their lower sensitivity. They're similar in this respect to the Spendor A5's, which are noticably quieter compared to other speakers for the same amplifier volume level. Some amplifiers will start running out of steam when used near their max output (generally the 12 o'clock position on the dial), and to be honest, an amplifier is going to sound much better when it doesn't have to be pushed that far, and will sound much more effortless when it has some headroom to fall back on with things get busy.

The Proacs are probably not quite as good all rounders as the ATC's, but this is mainly referring to more electronic based music, and music such as Boards Of Canada which uses a lot of samples and electronic beats/noises. I felt the ATC's handled this better. But musically, they can be just as good, and maybe even surpass them with certain styles of music, say a string quartet or woodwind based music. Their placement isn't too much of a problem as they're front ported, and their balance is a little different to the ATC's. Overall, it's worth auditioning both to hear the difference for yourself, and to make sure the amplifier they're going to be used with is going to be man enough for the job.

When we were playing about with the SCM11's to see where they fitted in with our extensive speaker range, we first tried them on the end of the Nait 5i. They sounded great, but just felt that when pushed, the Nait wasn't quite fully coping, which was confirmed when we moved them onto the Nait XS. Personally, I'd recommend this as the sort of amplifier people should be aiming for when looking at this range, whether they start at this point, or use their current amp within it's limits, until they can upgrade.

Better stands will be highly recommended - I believe I've recommended some earlier in this thread or another similar one.
 
A

Anonymous

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FrankHarveyHiFi:zztop: FrankHarveyHiFi:Proac do go very well with Naim - the majority of our Proac is bought by Naim customers. You shouldn't have any problems near to a wall, and this will be helped by front porting rather than rear. As always, it's usually worth trying at least one alternative, so as long as you're not running the Nait 5i to it's max, give the ATC SCM11's a try. Their sealed cabinet is ideal for near wall placement, and also match the Naim very well. Dear David & Rick,

Would my Nait have enough power to drive these brilliant speakers? They say you need at least 100watt to drive them efficiently. Do you think that the ATC is far better than the 110? How do you compare them characteristicly? BTW, I'm currently using the check Soundstyle Z stands. Tq all for your adviseI'll keep things as simple as possible.

The ATC's are fantastic all rounders, playing pretty much any music you can throw at them. They produce a nicely balanced sound with no specific section (bass/mid/treble) taking over the mix. Positioning isn't much of a problem either due to their sealed cabinets. As previously mentioned. some care is needed when partnering the SCM range with amplification due to their lower sensitivity. They're similar in this respect to the Spendor A5's, which are noticably quieter compared to other speakers for the same amplifier volume level. Some amplifiers will start running out of steam when used near their max output (generally the 12 o'clock position on the dial), and to be honest, an amplifier is going to sound much better when it doesn't have to be pushed that far, and will sound much more effortless when it has some headroom to fall back on with things get busy.

The Proacs are probably not quite as good all rounders as the ATC's, but this is mainly referring to more electronic based music, and music such as Boards Of Canada which uses a lot of samples and electronic beats/noises. I felt the ATC's handled this better. But musically, they can be just as good, and maybe even surpass them with certain styles of music, say a string quartet or woodwind based music. Their placement isn't too much of a problem as they're front ported, and their balance is a little different to the ATC's. Overall, it's worth auditioning both to hear the difference for yourself, and to make sure the amplifier they're going to be used with is going to be man enough for the job.

When we were playing about with the SCM11's to see where they fitted in with our extensive speaker range, we first tried them on the end of the Nait 5i. They sounded great, but just felt that when pushed, the Nait wasn't quite fully coping, which was confirmed when we moved them onto the Nait XS. Personally, I'd recommend this as the sort of amplifier people should be aiming for when looking at this range, whether they start at this point, or use their current amp within it's limits, until they can upgrade.

Better stands will be highly recommended - I believe I've recommended some earlier in this thread or another similar one.

Dear David,

Thank you so much for the valuable advise. You the man.
 

Frank Harvey

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No problem at all zz
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